Second Battle of Narvik

The Second Battle of Narvik occurred on 13 April 1940 during the Norwegian Campaign of World War II. Fought just three days after the First Battle of Narvik, the battle saw the British destroy several fuel and ammunition-starved German ships in Narvik fjord.

History
Following the First Battle of Narvik, German captain Erich Bey took command of the eight remaining German destroyers at Narvik Fjord, each of which were stranded and short of fuel and ammunition. The British Royal Navy Admiral William Whitworth was sent with the battleship HMS Warspite, the Tribal-class destroyers HMS Bedouin, HMS Cossack, HMS Punjabi, and HMS Eskimo, destroyers HMS Kimberley, HMS Hero, HMS Icarus, HMS Forester, and HMS Foxhound, and aircraft from HMS Furious to defeat the Germans at Narvik for morale and strategic purposes. The German fleet consisted of Wolfgang Zenker, Bernd von Arnim, Hans Ludemann, Hermann Kunne, Georg Thiele, Erich Giese, Erich Koellner, and Deiter von Roeder.

Near the entrance of the fjord, one of the spotter aircraft from Warspite sunk U-64 with a bomb, the only U-boat to be sunk by an aircraft launched from a battleship, and the first U-boat to be sunk by any aircraft. Warspite then opened up on Kunne, which then withdrew up the fjord to join Hans Ludemann, Wolgang Zenker, and Bernd von Arnim. Warspite blew Koellner apart with its large guns, and the British force, supported by British aircraft, shepherded the British into the head of the fjord. All of the German destroyers were reduced to scrap after a valiant fight.